The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing the armature winding of self-supporting, cylindrical, pot-shaped armatures of the so-called bell-shaped armature type, for electrical machines, such as fractional horse power direct current machines. A conducting wire is wound slantingly in relation to the armature axis, uninterruptedly, in at least two layers in such a way as to form triangular equal-sided conductor fields, with the number of fields corresponding to the number of poles of the machine. The wire changes over at the sides of the fields from one layer into the next one, and wire terminals are formed on one end face of the armature for establishing connections to commutator segments or current supply leads.
One prior art structure and method is known from German Pat. No. 1,463,855. In this conventional method a winding mandrel provided with hold pins is used for manufacturing the armature winding. In manufacturing the armature, the wire is led in a zigzag line around the hold pins.
This conventional apparatus and method, has been used for manufacturing the aforementioned armature windings, but has some disadvantages. One of these drawbacks resides in the fact that the winding, especially of several wires over one pin, causes an unwanted thickening or build up of the armature winding at its ends. Moreover, the auxiliary device which is provided with a plurality of pins, is relatively costly. Still further, armature windings of different diameter and different length require special auxiliary devices of their own.